Tutorial: How to Implement a Two-Step Opt-In Process Without Knowing Any Code

So you have an email list and now you want people to sign up. There are a million and one tips out there for growing your list. One of the most valuable tips I’ve come across is to create a two-step opt-in process.

Clay Collins, co-founder of LeadPages, has a wealth of data at his fingertips and highly recommends this method, saying that it outperforms the traditional 1-step opt-in process. This process is also recommended by Pat Flynn of Smart Passive Income, one of my favorite and most valuable resources, who claims his opt-in rate increased by 25% after implementing the technique.

What is a two-step process?

This basically means that you require a user to click on a button or call-to-action before displaying the sign-up form. You can see it in action at the end of this post 🙂

Why does the two-step opt-in process work?

You might think that adding an extra step to the process seems counter-intuitive. Why would anyone want to make the user work harder to sign up for your list? There are a few reasons…

By hiding the form on the initial page load, you are changing the way your site will be viewed by visitors. Instead of looking as though you are “taking” something from readers, you are showing that you’re “giving” something. Instead of immediately asking for an email address, you are willing to offer valuable content first.

By clicking the button, the user has taken action towards signing up. They’ve essentially raised their hand and said, “I’m interested in signing up.” Once someone has said yes, they are more likely to say yes a second time. This is a scientifically proven technique to help you seal the deal.

Once the user has clicked the button, they will be viewing the opt-in form in a pop up modal. This modal will gray out the content behind it, drawing the user’s attention completely to the opt-in form. Now that the user is in “yes mode” and we’ve removed distractions, they are even more likely to complete the sign up.

Ok, I’m sold. How do I implement the two-step opt-in process?

There is a way to set this up without anything fancy by create a button that opens a new page where the opt-in form lives. However, a pop-up with a tried and true layout is going to convert much higher.

That’s why I want to show you how you can implement this valuable technique using a very powerful plugin, PopupAlly Pro.

1. Purchase and download the PopupAlly Pro plugin.
2. Go to the plugins section of your WordPress admin area and upload the .zip file. Once it’s uploaded, click the “activate” button.

3. Go to the PopupAlly Pro plugin (link in the sidebar).
4. Click on “Popup 1” to expand the section. Click the pencil icon to change the name to something memorable such as “Click Trigger.”
5. Scroll down to the section titled “Non page-unique popups options” and select the checkbox that says “Click based popup.”

6. Click “Style settings” and scroll down to “Popup Template.” Select “Fluid Templates” from the first dropdown and “blank canvas” from the second.

7. Under “Customization Elements” click “add element.”

8. Scroll down to popup options and select “none” under the “Outer Border/Shadow” dropdown.

9. Scroll down and click the gray tab that says “Element 1 (Text).” Under “Click action,” select “Open another popup. Set the popup ID to 2. Under “Add styling,” select “background image.” Change the height and width to 100%. Click “choose file” and upload your call-to-action button. If you don’t have one already you can easily create one here.

10. Go back to “Display Settings” and check the box next to “Embedded sign up.” Select where you want the call-to-action button to appear. I recommend using “end of post/page content.”

11. Scroll to “Show this popup on which posts/pages” and select where you want to show the opt-in button.

12. Click the “Save changes” button.

13. Now, lets create the actual opt-in form. Click on “Popup 2” and change the name to “Click Triggered Pop Up.” Go to “Style Settings” and select a template under “Popup template.”

14. Below this dropdown you’ll see many customization options. Select your colors, enter the copy you want to use and click “Save changes.” If you use ConvertKit (which I highly recommend), this is where you would paste your embed code.

PopupAlly Pro is an incredibly valuable tool and offers so many customization settings. For more information on how to use the plugin, check out the wealth of knowledge in their video tutorials.